688 km to Santiago de Compostela
Last night we had dinner in an old wine cellar under the albergue. Salad and spaghetti and meatballs. Normally one of my favourites but the way it's cooked does not go very well with my stomach. And I slept 3 hours and woke up. I need to sleep!
The company for dinner was good. Two German ladies, an Australian, a gentleman from Argentina and us. Everyone was tired so dinner did not last long. The Australian lady had walked 30km yesterday. Wow!
The hostess told us that we are going to loose a lot of weight and get amazing legs and bottoms. Looking forward to this.
I have to try to go back to sleep, it is 2 am and today I am carrying my backpack for the first time since Pamplona. Fortunately the plan is for only 15 km and the hills are supposed to be reasonable.
I slept a few more hours and up at 6:30 am. The albergue does not have breakfast and we were told there was not a place in the village to eat so we had some fruit and a sweet bun and we were on the move an hour later, at dawn. Coming down from the village we found ourselves on a Roman road. It is amazing to think this road has been used for 2000 years. Imagine a Roman legion traveling to provinces in this exact place...just awesome.
We continue through farmer fields until we arrive today the Rio salado that we crossed over a mediaeval bridge.
There is a journal from the XII century that warns pilgrims not to drink the deadly waters.
Soon after we arrive to the village of Lorca, we stop at a little plaza to catch our breath and drink some water from the pilgrims fountain.
5 km later we arrive to Villatuerta, a larger modern town where we find a cafe and we sit down for a break. From there it is only 4 more km to Estella. Our final destination for today. We are very tired, we find our hostel, el Volante, and a restaurant that serves us a hearty meal of lentil soup and Navarra style trout.
Estella is full of mediaeval surprises. As we enter we see the church of the holy sepulchre. Built in the X century it was closed in 1881 but the facade is outstanding. It has the sculptures of the 12 apostles, 6 on each side of the door. There is a big statue of Santiago and several scenes of the life of Christ.
We stopped by the information office and the lady suggests we visit the new part of town. It was built in the XIII century; the NEW part of town.
To end the day we are going to go to mass at the church of San Pedro de la Rúa. A jewel of Navarra's romanic architecture of the XII century. We have been told there are many religious art pieces from the middle ages to the XVI century to be seen inside the church.
I am really impressed with the heritage left by my Basque ancestors.
Saint Peter, pray for us.
No comments:
Post a Comment